The Nets had their craziest win of the season Tuesday night, one the Barclays Center crowd won’t forget.
Hosting the Houston Rockets, currently the third seed in the stacked Western Conference, the Nets won 99-97 thanks to a pair of late three-pointers from D’Angelo Russell and Keon Johnson. But it wasn’t just the made shots, it’s how it all went down. Brooklyn took the victory Tuesday night in a sequence that would make Reggie Miller proud.
Down four points with 9.5 seconds remaining, Tosan Evbuomwan tossed the in-bounds pass across the court to Johnson who didn’t hesitate and knocked down a three to cut Houston’s lead to one point. With just 6.9 seconds remaining, the Nets put the pressure on the Rockets’ in-bounder. The defensive pressure worked as an errant pass was stolen by Evbuomwan and tipped to Russell behind the arc. The guard put up a three and nailed it, putting the Nets ahead with 3.5 seconds remaining.
“This year, that’s one of our top moments as a team,” Johnson said after the game. “I felt like everybody was engaged and everybody pitched in some way somehow. Me and D’Lo made the last two shots that put us over the top, but there were other plays that got overhighlighted but everybody competed to their fullest and tried to impact the game in any way.”
“This is why this game is so fun to watch,” coach Jordi Fernandez said of the finish. “Give credit to all the guys, they kept believing and kept pressing and made that turnover and D’Lo made that big shot. Throughout the whole game, we played hard and the focus was there. It wasn’t perfect all the way through, but that’s how we want our team to play. Play hard, play focused and playing together.”
Russell made the final shot, but the Nets as a whole kept the game close against a tough Rockets team. They were down just two points at halftime, and were actually up by four points entering the fourth quarter. Although Houston would go on a run to take their lead late, Brooklyn kept their composure and made the right plays.
Russell, who was traded to the Nets from the Lakers in late December in the Dorian Finey-Smith deal, gave credit to his teammates for the win.
“I made the shot but it goes up to the group. How resilient the group was, the players, Keon, Ziaire [Williams], I can name the whole team, they came in and played their part,” Russell said. “Credit goes to the coaches… Everybody comes in and delivers what they are supposed to do. I just made the shot but credit to everybody that was a part of it.
“The way [Evbuomwan’s] playing, it can’t go unnoticed. Coaches put us in a position to make plays. They do a great job of plugging and playing. For the ball to make its way to me and make shot, credit to him, he found it. We kept fighting, it was a relentless effort for the group.”
Tuesday’s win was Brooklyn’s third in a row, and their first home victory since Dec. 4. And while the Nets (17-33) are in the midst of a rebuild, first-year coach Fernandez has his players playing tough, even against some of the elite teams in the league.
Prior to the winning streak, which included a 12-point win against the Rockets in Houston on Saturday, Brooklyn were in tight games. They lost by just four points to the Knicks and just one point to the Lakers a couple of weeks ago, and those highly-contested losses are starting to bear fruit for this young squad, at least that is what Fernandez believes.
“When you are in games like that over and over, you can’t be surprised by winning this game,” Fernandez said. “We’ve done it and that’s the game of basketball. We were not discouraged when we lost those games. We just tell the guys to keep shooting with confidence and make plays on the defensive end. Keep giving yourself a chance and keep playing hard.”
The Nets will now host the Wizards on the second of their back-to-back on Wednesday night. The team will then enter the trade deadline on Thursday, which could change the roster once again.
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